chapter 1

They were a perfect partnership for each other on paper - both driven, motivated and extremely arrogant at times. Ben and Clare had to look the best, they were by far the fittest couple in one of England's smallest town. Ben only knew personal training, he wasn't very skilled in anything else.
He relied on Clare for everything, she woke him up in the morning to get ready for work; prepared his healthy meals and above all gave him a job as a personal trainer at her gym. Right there on a wall at the back of the cardio room in the gym was a photo of Ben and Clare, just in case you didn't know who they were already. 27 y/o, 6'2, 175 lbs of pure chiselled stone-like muscle, dark hair and the smuggest look on his face - that was Ben all over! One day it all changed.
Clare couldn't keep it a secret, she had cheated on Ben and "never loved" him in the first place. How could she just dump Ben with a simple text message after almost a year of being together?
That's just the type of person Clare was, she said things how they were and deep down only saw Ben as a benefit to her needs professionally.
He played a role and got people to keep coming to her gym, but she wanted better, even when things were going great already. It would all mean big changes for Ben.
He certainly didn't want to work at the gym anymore, which meant he would have to move back in with his parents as he couldn't afford a place of his own.
It's not like Ben could go and work at another gym because his cocky attitude burnt those bridges a long time ago.
Ben, the face of Clare's gym could never lower himself to work for the only other gym in the town and moving further away was too much of a big step for someone who liked being a big fish in a small pond.
He might not be working at Clare's gym anymore, but he damn sure needed it to keep in shape and maybe the best form of revenge would be to go back there, pretend like nothing had happened and show Clare what she was missing.
Unfortunately/fortunately for Ben, his trip back to the gym would take him down a very different path.